farm boy // joshler

9

josh's point of view

the ride to the bowling alley is filled with a debate over disney movie soundtracks, and tyler is getting fairly heated.

"lilo and stitch has elvis," he argues.

"mulan has i'll make a man out of you," i reply, my hands relaxed on the steering wheel.

"josh. it's elvis," he hits his knees. "ellllviiis."

"i know. but reflections? a banger." i shrug and pull into the parking lot.

"i literally can't." he sighs and gets out of the car, running a hand through his hair.

i get out and walk around to his side and take his hand. "can't what?"

"argue with you anymore." he sighs again for dramatic effect. "i know in my heart that lilo and stitch is better. you'll just have to live with being wrong."

"whatever." i open the door for him and he steps inside. "let's just have fun, yeah? we're on a date." i squeeze his hand and he nods.

"alright. but you're going to lose." he sticks his tongue out at me as we step up to the counter.

i pay for our lane and shoe rental and we head to our assigned area.

tyler steps to the machine while i lace my shoes and he puts my name as dog-breath.

"tyler." i finish tying my shoes and nudge him out of the way. "i do not have dog-breath."

"that's your new nickname." he giggles and i don't have it in me to change it and take that away.

i step forward and type in a new name for him. "whatever you say, baby boy," i poke his cheek and he blushes.

"shut up," he replies with a roll of his eyes. "take your turn, loser."

i do as he says and pick out my ball, rolling it down the lane at what i calculated to be the perfect angle. i was wrong in my calculations, and i make a spare.

"damn." i run a hand through my hair and put my hands on my hips, waiting for my ball to come back so i can roll again. i hit the rest of the pins on the second try.

"nice one, dog-breath." tyler passes me and takes his turn, making a strike on his first attempt. "take that."

we take our turns, trying to one-up each other the whole time.

tyler does win in the end, by two points.

"i am victorious." he takes a bow.

"by two points, baby boy." i step closer to him and kiss his cheek. "don't get too cocky."

"i'll be as cocky as i want." he stands on his tip toes so he's taller than me.

"to think, i was going to buy you ice cream." i shake my head and step back.

"no wait!" he wraps his arms around my neck to hug me. "i'm sorry. can i please have strawberry?"

"strawberry? lame." i roll my eyes. "you gotta get a cool flavor."

"what are you going to get?" he asks, walking towards the counter to return our shoes.

"i dont know. peanut butter cup." i shrug and take his hand again as we exit. i only let go to open his door before i run around to my side and get in the car.

"maybe i think that's lame." he raises his eyebrows.

"whatever."

"are we eating somewhere or just buying some from the store?" he asks, his hand on my knee as i drive.

it makes me nervous that his hand is there, and my thoughts are dragged into the gutter. "the store, i guess. that way we have some for later."

"okay." he says, squeezing my knee gently. "we should watch another movie tonight," he suggests.

"only if i can pick the movie this time." i take a left and then turn into the parking lot of the grocery store.

he holds my hand on the way in, swinging them between us. "are you going to pick mulan?"

"yes. you need to realize its glory." i lead him past the isles of food until we reach the frozen section.

"you know whats truly glorious?" he lets go of my hand and opens one of the freezers, pulling out a gallon of strawberry ice cream. "this."

i take the flavor i want and hold it up. "this."

he shakes his head in dismissal. "are we buying any for scott?"

"nah. i'll share mine," i answer, walking back to the front of the store.

we choose self checkout, and i scan the ice cream and pay while tyler stuffs both products in a bag.

said bag takes the place in his hand where mine once was, so my arms hang limp as we walk across the cracked pavement to my car.

the drive home is quiet except for the radio playing and tyler's soft humming.

we pass a few houses, all of which are owned by people i've known since i was young. this is a small town, and almost everyone knows everyone. it's hard not to when theres only one church in town and most of them are religious.

although i'm not exactly religious, i find myself in awe of the church from an artistic perspective. it's built beautifully, with stained glass windows and pillars and beautiful stone and wood work.

we pass it and i clear my throat. "uncle scott makes us go to church every sunday."

he sighs. "i figured."

i finally pull into the gravel driveway of my home and we head inside.

uncle scott is sitting in his recliner in the living room when we enter, a bowl of pasta in his lap. "hey, boys! leftover pasta is in the fridge."

"i'm good," i shrug and take the ice cream from tyler to put it in the freezer.

"no thank you," tyler says, polite and quiet as always.

we take a seat on the couch, leaving a foot or so of space between us to avoid any comment from my uncle.

"so, what did y'all get up to?" he turns his tv show down to wait for our answer.

"we went bowling." tyler smiles. "and i won."

"oh, i bet. josh is terrible at every sport," he sighs. "i've tried to teach him football five times."

"i'm not that bad," i cross my arms over my chest. "tyler only beat me by two points."

"then maybe tyler's bad too," scott laughs hard, slapping his knee for emphasis.

eventually, tyler and i head upstairs, and we sit in my room, laying next to each other on the floor on our backs and staring at the ceiling.

"im tired," he yawns suddenly and i jump a little. "sorry."

i shake my head. "go take a nap then."

"then i won't be able to sleep tonight." he sighs.

"sure you will. we'll get hyped on ice cream, and then you'll crash and sleep just fine." i sit up and he follows my lead.

"fine, i guess i'll nap then." he stands up and walks out without saying anything else. i hear his bedsprings creak as he flops onto his bed.

i decide i should take a nap as well, and crawl into my bed wishing it was tylers.

(an: ive been really down lately for no appearant reason and my friend keeps saying "wHy aRe yOu sO dEpReSsEd lAtElY?" even though ive told him 5 times that theres no real reason and honestly hes really creepy and i don't want to be friends with him but hes friends with my friends and if i cut him out then ill lose them all so i can't hELP

edit: damn i forgot about that guy until just now. we ended up working it out.)